Introduction

Cheshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England was founded just a few years after the national organisation came into existence in 1926. It is an independent charity in its own right (Registered Charity no. 248304), as are all the County branches, although it is a totally integral part of the national organisation.

The National Organisation

With a record of action and achievement spanning 80 years, CPRE is the most effective national organisation working to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England.

Our network of county branches and local groups screen over 100,000 planning applications every year, raising the alarm when the countryside is threatened by damaging development.

Locally and nationally, CPRE campaigns for positive policies to protect and enhance the countryside. We campaign for action to protect precious landscapes, green fields hedgerows. We campaign for sustainable development; for better rural public transport; for regeneration of urban areas and brownfield sites; and for green farming schemes which benefit the countryside.

More and more, we are winning the arguments. For example, the Government is increasingly accepting our ideas for redeveloping land in towns and cities rather than building on greenfield sites.